Shadow of the Night
by LuckyLadybug
Summary: Post-series, my Pendulum Swings verse. What if Yami Bakura ran across a part of his spirit he'd broken off and the shadow didn't want to re-merge?


**Yu-Gi-Oh!**

 **Shadow of the Night**

 **By Lucky_Ladybug**

 **Notes: The characters are not mine and the story is! This developed from the odd pondering of, "What if Yami Bakura ran into a part of his spirit he'd broken off someplace and the shadow didn't want to merge again?" The concept of being able to do things like that with your spirit is bizarre and causes my mind to go bizarre places! This takes place in my** _ **Pendulum Swings**_ **verse, where Yami Bakura survived Zorc's destruction and returned to Bakura.**

It was a peaceful day at the Bakura household. Ryou Bakura was cleaning the table from breakfast with a damp cloth, while Yami Bakura sat at the table and studied the mysterious Infinity Ring. As usual, it laid in his hands, doing nothing.

"I still wonder what all this thing can do," Yami Bakura said. "Obviously it must have many powers I haven't discovered yet."

"You're doing well at discovering them, Yami," Bakura smiled. "You know it can be a compass and . . . er, send people to the Shadow Realm, just like the Millennium Ring. . . . And it can remove Shadow Leeches."

"And allow me to be mortal and to change my appearance back and forth." Yami Bakura let it go and it thumped against his chest. "But it can't do everything, so there are weaknesses somewhere. And sometimes it's temperamental and won't even cooperate on the things I know it can do." He sighed and leaned on the table with one arm. "The Ring is in no condition to fight some epic battle between good and evil. And I am certainly not either."

Bakura abandoned the cloth and sat down next to him. "You're getting there," he insisted. "Every day you learn a little bit more."

"And sometimes I backslide," Yami Bakura said flatly.

"It takes time," Bakura said. "But maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself. You're supposed to learn to use the Ring for good, yes, but Shadi never said that meant changing everything about yourself."

Yami Bakura dropped his arm and looked to Bakura in disbelief. "I'm such a character, Bakura," he retorted. "Do you honestly believe that in my current condition I could fight and win a battle against evil?"

"You already have," Bakura said softly. "The White Death, Yami Marik . . . what are they if not evil?"

Yami Bakura couldn't deny that. But he said, "They weren't whom I am supposed to defeat. Whoever that is, they will be even worse."

"It's hard to imagine anyone worse," Bakura shuddered.

"I can." Yami Bakura's eyes flickered with fear again. "As treacherous as they, and especially that demon, are, they are small compared to Zorc. Yami Marik was created from the darkness in one heart. Now try to imagine that multiplied by the darkness of every person in the world who was, is, and will be."

Bakura bit his lip. "I can't," he said softly.

"Who could?" Yami Bakura grunted. "Except perhaps someone who lived with Zorc for three thousand years."

Bakura rocked back. "You think Zorc is the one you'll have to defeat!" His eyes went wide in his alarm.

"It all makes sense." Yami Bakura looked seriously into Bakura's eyes. "Zorc can't have been destroyed, because there will always be darkness in human hearts. Perhaps someday he will return and they want someone to defeat him who knows him inside and out."

Bakura looked away. "But . . . if Zorc can never be destroyed, and he can only be defeated for a time, then . . . why can't the Pharaoh do it again? Why would it have to be you?"

"The Pharaoh no longer has to fight. Remember?" Yami Bakura looked weary. "He can if he wants to, but he won't ever be asked to. He will never have that burden again. But I imagine that whoever is higher in authority than Shadi thought it would be deliciously ironic to make the Pharaoh's arch-enemy fight against Zorc."

"We don't even know that Zorc has anything to do with this," Bakura said.

"No, but we should be prepared," Yami Bakura said. "Think about it. Whether you want to believe it or not, it does make sense."

Bakura knew he was right, but he didn't want to think about it. The very idea filled him with a horror and a dread and a sense of doom so strong it made his heart constrict. Still, he shook the feeling off. Everyone else had survived fighting Zorc, and Shadi had promised that Yami Bakura would have earned his second chance if he fought and won, so there was no reason to believe he wouldn't win in a similar situation.

"You know what else, Yami?" he said at last. "Zorc was defeated with light. So it also makes sense that you can learn to wield the Infinity Ring the way you're supposed to, even or especially if Zorc is the enemy."

Yami Bakura grunted. "You never give up, do you."

"No, because I believe in you." Bakura smiled at him. "And whoever wanted you to have this mission obviously believed in you too."

"Bah," said Yami Bakura. But deep down, he was touched by Bakura's unwavering confidence.

The sound on the porch startled them both.

"Now who in the world could that be?" Bakura blinked. He got up, heading into the living room.

"The cat's upstairs, so it's not her," Yami Bakura remarked.

"I know." Bakura's mouth dropped open as he opened the door and found himself staring at a second Yami Bakura. "Um . . . I beg your pardon, but . . . who are you?"

The second Yami Bakura snorted. "I'm your Yami, you fool. Or rather, I should say, a part of him." He pushed past Bakura and entered the house.

Bakura shivered at the feel of a chill breeze. This Yami Bakura was not solid. "A part . . . ?" He didn't know what to make of this at all! Who on Earth was this character?

Yami Bakura soon appeared in the doorway, and he went stock still at the sight. "What . . ."

"Um . . ." Bakura rubbed the back of his neck. "Yami, he says he's a part of you. Can you explain this?"

Yami Bakura walked up to the second Yami Bakura and stared him in the eyes. He cursed in Egyptian. "You're . . ."

"Yes!" exclaimed the second. "I'm the part of your spirit that you left with Tristan."

"But . . . I thought you'd been destroyed," Yami Bakura frowned. "Either that, or that we merged again during Zorc's destruction. . . ."

"Well, we didn't," growled the shadow. "I've been wandering the Pharaoh's Memory World until at last I found the way out."

"Um . . ." Bakura nervously interjected.

Both of them looked to him.

"I hope you don't mind my asking," Bakura stammered, "but if you're from before Zorc's destruction, does that mean a part of Zorc still lives in you?"

Yami Bakura stiffened and looked to his shadow in horror.

"What are you talking about?" the shadow sneered. "I am Zorc!"

Yami Bakura fell back, the color draining from his face. "Oh no. . . ." He and Bakura had just been talking about it, but he hadn't expected such a nightmare to come true so soon. This surely couldn't be the final battle he had to fight in, but it was a disaster all the same.

"What's going on, Yami?!" Bakura cried. "Is he Zorc, or does he still think he is, like you did?!"

"I don't know," Yami Bakura admitted. "But if he thinks he is, he must still be under Zorc's influence."

"My word, what are we going to do?" Bakura exclaimed.

"What is all this?!" the shadow snapped. "Are we going to merge again or what?!" He looked to Yami Bakura. "And where is the Millennium Ring?!"

"The Millennium Ring is gone," Yami Bakura said. "All of the Millennium Items are. And you are not Zorc; you are a part of my spirit. Don't you remember that your name is Bakura?! You lived in ancient Egypt . . ."

"My village was destroyed, yes, yes," the shadow said impatiently. "Yes, I was that person. But now I am also Zorc." He peered at Yami Bakura. "Obviously things have changed. You're solid, but so is the boy. What's going on?"

Yami Bakura sighed. "I'm free of Zorc," he said. "The Pharaoh destroyed him. Now I am left to myself again. This Infinity Ring grants me a mortal form. If I learn to use it for good, I will be allowed to fully have a second chance at life and not need the Ring to live."

The shadow snorted. "Use it for good? And why on Earth would you want to do that?"

"Quite frankly, it sounds outlandish to me as well," Yami Bakura said. "But if I misuse its power, it will turn against me and I will be burned alive. I would rather try to be good."

"So you're a slave to a hunk of silver," the shadow jeered, flicking it.

"That's not entirely it," Yami Bakura growled. He hesitated, ran a hand through his hair, and finally said, "I like my life right now. I want to keep it. For the first time since I was a child, I am truly happy."

"And what's so great about your life right now?" the shadow demanded.

"Bakura and I . . . have become very close." Yami Bakura was still awkward as he spoke. He was literally trying to reason with himself, but a version of himself from the past. And since he had been that person, he knew exactly how the other him would feel about and react to these concepts. Somehow it was very awkward and even downright embarrassing.

"Close!" the shadow spat. "You can't be close to anyone. Friendships don't last. Nothing lasts. If you're going to get close to anything, it should be to power!"

"What power?!" Yami Bakura exclaimed in frustration. "Open your eyes! All our goals are gone! There are no Millennium Items! There is no Zorc! We didn't even want to revive Zorc until he influenced us into thinking we did! All we originally wanted was justice for Kul Elna!"

The shadow paused, considering all of these things. "Tell me," he said at last, "does your new Ring grant mortality to any spirit?"

"I don't know," Yami Bakura said.

"Well." Without warning the shadow reached for the Infinity Ring, grabbed it, and whipped it off of Yami Bakura to put around himself. "Let's find out!"

Bakura cried out in alarm. "Give that back! Yami needs it! His spirit was badly torn from Zorc's destruction! Without the Ring, he might go back to that state!" He grabbed for the Ring too, as did Yami Bakura.

The shadow jumped out of their way. "What do you know, it does work," he said. "I'm solid!" He touched a chair arm, then ran towards the door. "You can forget about merging with me; I'm not going back with you now that you have changed all of your goals!"

Yami Bakura snarled. "You _are_ me!" he cried. Now he was the spirit, and worse, Bakura could see small wounds opening up on his arms. Just as Shadi had warned, being without the Ring was undoing what it had healed.

"Oh please don't do this!" Bakura wailed. He ran forward, grabbing the shadow by the arm. "If you're truly part of Yami, then you care about me deep down, even if you can't acknowledge it yet! Please . . . I'm begging you . . . don't hurt Yami. Give him back the Ring. If you're still poisoned by Zorc's influence, we'll help you! Then you can merge with Yami again!"

The shadow frowned, staring at Bakura for a long moment. Part of him wanted to tell the boy to stop his groveling, but instead, something much different came out of his mouth. "You . . . truly care about him? Even after everything he did to you? All the possessions, all the loneliness . . ."

Bakura nodded. "I do," he said. "He always cared about me, even when he denied it. And now . . . he doesn't deny it any more." He smiled. "He's my best friend. My brother. And I would do anything for him."

"Bah! Everyone says things like that. Hardly anyone actually means it when the time comes." The shadow started to turn away.

"Bakura does," Yami Bakura said. "Look at this." He lifted his shirt. Even in spirit form, he still bore the scar from the Eon Spear across his stomach.

The shadow stiffened, staring at the proof of a deep wound. "What happened?!"

"I was run through by the Eon Spear," Yami Bakura said. "You remember; that artifact that can only be removed by the murderer or by someone other than the victim with a magical item? It turns out there is one other way it can be taken out—by someone who truly loves the victim. Bakura insisted on pulling it out at great personal risk to himself. It started electrocuting him. He almost died! All because he loves me."

The shadow came closer, running his hand over the scar. "There is no such thing as such love," he said, but now it sounded hollow and without real conviction.

"If anyone could embody such love, you know it would be Bakura," Yami Bakura said. "That was what we saw in him from the beginning. He is a true innocent, a sweet boy untainted by the cruelty of the world . . . or of us."

The shadow looked to Bakura. "You could love me like that?" he said doubtfully.

"You're part of Yami, so yes!" Bakura insisted.

"You said you hated us," the shadow retorted.

"Sometimes I thought I did," Bakura admitted. "But then I realized I didn't! And anyway, even if I did . . . those feelings are gone. I love Yami with all my heart and soul . . . so that means I love you the same way."

Yami Bakura hissed, falling to his knees as the wounds in his spirit became more pronounced.

"Yami!" Bakura wailed. He ran over to him and knelt down, even though he couldn't touch the other now. "Oh Yami, please hold on. Please! There has to be something we can do!" He desperately racked his mind for ideas. "Maybe . . . maybe if you share my body again, the damage to your spirit will stop!"

Yami Bakura looked up with a start. "I don't want to do that to you again," he protested. "And I don't want to live like that again either!"

"It's better than going back to the state you were in when I found you that night in the bedroom!" Bakura retorted. "Please, Yami, before it's too late!" Tears slipped from his eyes as he hugged the spirit close. "Please phase inside my body. . . ."

The shadow just stood and stared. "You're willing to go through that agony again when you don't have to, just to save him?!"

"Of course I am!" Bakura insisted. "He's different now; it would be more like it was with Yugi and the Pharaoh."

"He could be fooling you," the shadow objected.

"He could, but he's not," Bakura replied. "I trust him implicitly."

Yami Bakura groaned, slumping against Bakura yet still resisting Bakura's idea.

"And you!" The shadow stared at him. "You have a way out of this mess, but you're not taking it?!"

"I'm only human," Yami Bakura said. "I may wear down enough that I will. I don't want to go back to how I was after Zorc's destruction either. But I also don't want to do anything more to this boy than we already did. You remember how we felt on the Battle Ship, when we saw his pain from the knife wound. We hadn't realized he would be as unable to tolerate it as he was. As soon as we realized, we knew we couldn't allow him to suffer any longer."

"Because we needed his body!" the shadow snapped.

Yami Bakura's lips curled in a tired smirk. "I know that's what we told everybody, including ourselves. But that wasn't the full truth. And even then, deep down we knew it."

The shadow fell silent. Yes, Yami Bakura's words were true. Even then, they had known they didn't want that gentle heart to be in such pain. And Bakura . . . to love Yami Bakura after so much had happened. . . . It was what he had never believed could be true. But it was clear Bakura meant every word.

"Yami, if you don't want to do anything else to me, then you'll get in my body before it's too late!" Bakura cut in. "I won't let you suffer like you did back then! I can't bear to see that! Please, Yami . . . please . . ."

Then, suddenly, the cord of the Infinity Ring was being lowered over Yami Bakura's head. Stunned, he looked up as the Ring made him mortal again and the wounds began to heal. "What . . ."

"You won't have to do that," the shadow said gruffly. "Just get back to your lives. Only . . ." He hesitated, awkward, and shifted his weight. "I want to merge with you again," he stammered at last. "I want what you have."

Bakura hugged Yami Bakura in relief. "Oh, thank goodness!"

Yami Bakura relaxed. "Then you shall have it," he said. "Although I don't know if I can do it or if we'll have to get someone else. . . ."

Bakura gave him an encouraging look. "He's part of you, Yami. You should be able to help him."

"We'll soon find out." Yami Bakura got to his feet, the Infinity Ring glowing. "Cleanse this being from Zorc's influence," he ordered. "Make it safe for us to merge again!"

The Ring glowed more, enveloping the shadow in tendrils of light. Then he was screaming, pained as what was left of Zorc tore free from him and faded into the darkness. He crashed to his knees, torn in the same manner as Yami Bakura had been.

"This was what you were feeling?" he rasped.

"Yes," Yami Bakura said. "Only then did I fully realize how deeply Zorc had poisoned me and seeped into my very soul. Zorc's destruction tore me to shreds. But I was saved . . . because of Bakura."

"Bakura. . . ." The shadow looked from Yami Bakura to the boy, who was watching him in concern. "From the first day we met, I knew my existence would never be the same. I just never knew how much you would change it."

Bakura smiled. "And I never knew you could change mine so positively. I wish some things hadn't happened, of course, but I could never regret receiving the Millennium Ring." He touched the shadow's shoulder. "You'll be alright now."

Yami Bakura reached for the torn shadow. "Come back."

The shadow closed his eyes, allowing Yami Bakura to absorb him back into his heart. As he vanished, Yami Bakura turned to look at Bakura.

"You did it, Yami," Bakura beamed.

"We did it," Yami Bakura corrected. "It was your sweetness that got through to him . . . as it always did."

Bakura hugged him. "I'm so glad."

Yami Bakura drew an arm around the boy who had been his salvation once again. "So am I."

Bakura looked up at him. "Can you still sense him, Yami? Or has he fully become part of you again?"

Yami Bakura paused. "I believe I still sense him at the moment, in the new sense of wonder I'm feeling. I felt that when I first realized you cared. Now he is feeling it for the first time."

"I wonder if he is anything like his own entity, the way Yami Marik became with Marik," Bakura said.

"To some extent, perhaps," Yami Bakura said. "But we want to be one again, unlike those two. So I imagine we will be."

"Good," said Bakura. "The last thing we need is for you to have an identity crisis again."

Yami Bakura grunted. "That will not happen." Worry passed through his eyes. "But now we know of a surety that Zorc truly wasn't entirely gone. I can't believe he's completely destroyed now, either."

"But you used your Infinity Ring to vanquish that part of him, Yami!" Bakura said. "We'll be alright, no matter how many times he comes back!"

Yami Bakura paused, considering Bakura's words. "Maybe we will at that."

"I know we will," Bakura smiled.


End file.
